


for here, I hope, begins our lasting joy // Shourtney two-shot

by QueenOfSapphires



Series: Shourtney bits & pieces [3]
Category: Smosh
Genre: Awkwardness, Best Friends, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff and Humor, Kissing, Making Out, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:28:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21725275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfSapphires/pseuds/QueenOfSapphires
Summary: It’s just two thousand words of me processing my feelings about that graduation video.
Relationships: Courtney Miller/Shayne Topp
Series: Shourtney bits & pieces [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1557409
Comments: 9
Kudos: 73





	1. for here, I hope, begins our lasting joy

**Author's Note:**

> Yay for cliches, amirite?

He saw her standing in the hallway near the bathrooms, her back facing him, shoulders slouched and trembling lightly. He squeezed the half-full bottle of IPA he was still holding, and cleared his throat to let her know he was coming. She flinched and spun in place.

"Are you all right?" he asked, wiping one more stray tear from his own cheek.

She was full on sobbing, makeup streaming down her face. Crying Courtney, unless she was shedding tears out of laughter, was a rare sight. His heart clenched.

"I'm fine," she said in a weak voice, placing her back against the wall, arms dangling at her sides. "Really. I'm just overwhelmed. I managed to hold it for a while, but it's been too much, honestly."

"This is easily the most wholesome day of my life," Shayne admitted, leaning against the opposite wall, mirroring her pose. "But I wish you weren't crying."

"Look who's talking!" she exclaimed, laughing. "Besides, these are happy tears. I'm so proud of you. And it's fine, really."

"You ran away before I managed to—I mean—I hear you did the lion's share of preparations."

"I guess," she shrugged. "I mean, it was my idea, so I had to step up. Sarah helped a great deal, and Damien, too. Even Matt Raub, if you can believe that. He's a big softie at heart."

He smiled. "And yet they all firmly acknowledged that you're basically the only person I should be thanking."

Courtney exhaled, probably a little frustrated with his nagging, and spoke up after a longer while. "It was a group effort, let's leave it at that. Have you had some of the pad—"

"Courtney. Learn to take a compliment, all right? It was incredible. Thank you, truly. From the bottom of my heart, however cheesy that sounds."

A small smile finally graced her face. Glad that he finally got through to her, he raised the bottle and tipped it slightly, toasting her, and then took a swig.

"You're welcome," she whispered. "But seriously now, dude, did you eat the pad thai? It's from this new place that's supposed to be the best in LA."

"Confirmed. Best I've had thus far."

"Good. That I can actually take full credit for, I chose it."

A few seconds passed in silence, which was not uncomfortable in the slightest. It never was, and it was one of his favorite things about their relationship.

Eventually, he spoke up. "Can I, um—confess something?"

"Always."

"I kinda—I don't know. Have I been weird lately?"

"You mean weirder than usual?"

"Pfff, funny. I guess I haven't been feeling like myself because of the lack of college. I have too much time on my hands and I honestly don't know what to do with it."

"Well, first and foremost," Courtney grinned mischievously, "you should finally slang some dong, man."

His stomach did a somersault, a familiar sensation he'd been experiencing regularly for the past few months, especially when Courtney happened to be nearby. He'd been trying to get to the bottom of why exactly his insides were behaving the way they were behaving. He had an idea, but it was something too disconcerting to even begin to digest.

In any way, he kept cool and said, "I know. Maybe."

"Definitely. The jokes were funny, because they were true."

"Ha, ha... I don't—it's never been a priority. You know that."

"Yeah. You do you, Shayne. Well, now that the prank is officially over, I also have more time. I may try to fight through the awkwardness and slang me some dong, too. Or, you know, not necessarily a dong."

"You do you, Courtney," he laughed, even though his insides slipped again. "We should probably head back."

"Yeah." She sniffled, and wiped her cheeks. "Oh god, I have to fix my face. You go ahead. Can we hug, though?"

"Of course."

The hug was fidgety, and warm, and great. Before they separated, he felt a sudden need to kiss her on the cheek. And as if it were some cliche Netflix movie, in the same exact moment she moved her head a little to the side and his lips landed on the corner of hers. She froze.

"Sorry, I—"

But before he managed to get embarrassed, she unfroze and was full on kissing him, and his stomach started dancing wildly and triumphantly, and he found himself reciprocating, acting on instinct lined with some strong, unfamiliar — or was it? — emotion.

Her hands were on his face, and roamed higher, to knock off that stupid hat and tangle into his hair. Her mouth opened, she moaned, and pushed him towards the wall behind, which his back hit hard when he took a few steps backwards.

A hot, unforeseen makeout session with his best friend — at work, in a corridor where someone could walk in on them at any given moment, after she'd just thrown him the best, most thoughtful graduation party in the history of graduation parties — that was the very last thing on his agenda for the day. And yet, it was very much in progress, and since he had a hard time wrapping his head around what was going on, he wrapped his arms around her waist instead.

The motion, as enthusiastic as it was, made him accidentally let go of the beer bottle he was holding. It fell to the ground with a loud clank, and Courtney gasped and jumped away, keeping him at a stretched arm's distance, her fingers digging into his chest. Her stare locked on the bottle, which was now rolling away, leftover beer gushing all over the linoleum. They were both breathing heavily, waiting for the other to speak up.

"I—" he began.

"I'mma go," Courtney blurted, unable to meet his eyes.

And she bolted towards the bathrooms, but instead of walking in, she passed the door and ran further, disappearing around the corner.

Shayne swore loudly. His instinct told him to follow her, yet his body was completely paralyzed, feet glued to the floor. Before he managed to do anything, he heard a voice coming from the opposite end of the hall. "Well, well, well."

Shayne turned his head towards Ian. "How much did you see?" he mumbled.

"Enough to tell you that you're a stupid boy," Ian said firmly, "and you should _fucking_ go get her. _Now_ would be best, unless you've got something better to do."

"Right, you're right. Courtney!" he yelled.

The last thing he heard before running after her was Ian sighing heavily, like the dad that he was, "Kids these days..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I felt too many feelings because of that graduation video and had to process them. Here's the result.
> 
> Thank you for voting and commenting! Tell me what y'all think!
> 
> Title from Shakespeare’s “Henry VI” — turns out I’m not out of Shakespeare quotes after all, ha!


	2. a heart to love, and in that heart courage to make 's love known

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part two, and last.

Shit shit _shit_. _You kissed him you kissed him youfuckingkissedhim!_

She ran for it, obviously, because what else could she do? The embarrassment, the crippling awkwardness of it, and also—also the wonderful tingling she still felt on her lips—it was all too much to bear. She knew it, she _knew_ it was too dangerous, letting herself be alone with him like that.

Fresh air hit her face, and she breathed deeply, feeling oxygen spread through her body. She welcomed its calming effect.

 _He_ started that, that—that incredible, forbidden kiss. He did, didn’t he? That peck on the corner of her lips. But why the hell would he—

The door she had come out through slammed open, and Shayne appeared, halfway through taking off the hideous red graduation gown.

“Court—“ her name died in his throat as soon as he saw her actually standing there. “You’re here.”

“Well?!” she said, much more loudly than intended, putting her hands on her hips in an angry gesture. “Why did you—why would you kiss me, Shayne?! What the actual fuck?”

“Except that I didn’t!” he responded, angrily tossing the gown to the ground. “You can’t pin it all on me! It was an accident, you turned your head at the wrong moment. I _swear_ , you know I would never—“

“Yeah!” she yelled, then composed herself in a blink of an eye. “Yeah,” she repeated, quieter. “I know you would... _never_.”

Even she was surprised at the obvious disappointment in her voice.

“You kissed me,” he said, sending her a tentative glance.

She crossed her arms on her chest and puffed her lips, having decided that attack would be best defense in this situation. “Maybe. So what? You kissed me back, don’t even try to deny it. What gives, dude?”

He ruffled his hair and ran both hands down his face, the gestures so wonderfully familiar that her heart stopped for a second.

“God, fuck. All right. Listen. I don’t... know.”

“Could use a bit more eloquence from a college graduate, pal,” she mocked mercilessly.

He grunted, angry. _Good_. All of a sudden, an odd desire to drive him furious overwhelmed her. But his features softened after a few seconds, his face radiating a mixture of concern and some peculiar timidity.

“Something has changed,” he whispered.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she said immediately.

“No? I think you know _exactly_ what I mean. _You_ kissed me.”

“Stop _fucking_ saying that. Fine, I did. I kissed you, Shayne. Happy? Can we leave it at that?”

“Of course not!” Shayne growled, incredulous. “Are you kidding? Do you remember the conversa—“

“Yes,” she said way too quickly, blushing. “I remember.”

She instinctively knew what he meant, because of course he would bring that up, the only conversation they ever had on the subject, that reluctant, alcohol-fueled talk _she_ insisted on having about six months after they got hired. It remained one of the most awkward moments of her life, and Courtney was grateful she couldn’t recall that many details from that night. She feared she might have forbidden him from falling in love with her, or something resembling an equally ridiculous line taken straight out of a trashy rom-com.

“Well, I mean... I remember only parts of it,” she admitted. “I was drunk.”

“We should’ve written it down,” he chuckled. “What about what you said at the very end?”

A fuzzy memory appeared in her mind.She was standing in front of him outside of some club, poking his chest with too much force. _You have to promise me, Shayne. If it ever changes, you have to let me know. If we ever find ourselves free of those fucking contracts, and we’re both single, and you feel like... just, promise me._

“If you think you’ll force some sort of a confession out of me then—“

He frowned. “No, no. You misunderstand. I don’t expect anything from you. I’m the one confessing here.”

“What?”

“Like I promised, I’m confessing. That my feelings have changed. Not sure when, exactly, but I’ve definitely been feeling like an infatuated teenager for the past couple of months.”

“Oh. _Oh_ —“

“I know it’s out of the blue,” he added, speaking very quickly, as if he wanted to just get it over with and lay it all on the line. “It sneaked up on me. And you don’t have to say anything. I’m just letting you know that I wouldn’t mind—doing more of what just happened in the corridor.”

He made an awkward gesture with his hands, then turned around and started walking towards the door. He stopped for a brief moment to pick up the graduation gown from the ground, which was when her fingers locked around his wrist. “Shayne,” she whispered.

Later, she couldn’t recall taking those few steps towards him, as if her body acted on its own, realizing that this was too important to give up.

He turned, gentle awe softening the look in his eyes when she took his face in her trembling hands and whispered, “Tell me you’ve never wondered—“

She drifted off, but he understood perfectly and sighed.

“I think you know I can’t tell you that, Courtney.”

“Fuuuuuck,” she whined. “Life would be much easier if I wasn’t so obsessed with your sorry ass.”

She kissed him rather forcefully this time, and he couldn’t help but chuckle throughout.

“You’re kinda ruining the moment, dude.”

He grinned. “You now have to immediately forgive me for every stupid thing I do, since you’re obsessed with my sorry ass.”

“Is this how it’s gonna be?”

“Don’t blame me, I didn’t make the rules of obsession, Courtney.”

After a brief pause they both burst out laughing.

“Lucky for you,” he said, “I’m also totally obsessed with _your_ sorry ass.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed, guys. Yesterday’s video gave me just enough motivation to finish this one up. Couldn’t leave y’all hanging like that after the last one ;)
> 
> Title from Macbeth. It’s originally said over two dead bodies. Oh well.
> 
> I hope you don’t find my punctuation style too annoying. I do love me some (a lot of) dashes.


End file.
